Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History

More like this

• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Desert Storm Triggers the SPR's First Emergency Drawdown

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  01/16/1991 - 04/03/1991CONFIRMED87% CONFIDENCE35.7 years agoDOE dates the authorisation to Bush's address of 16 January 1991 and the last of the 17.3 million barrels to 3 April 1991; the pin's exclusive end is the following midnight UTC.^[1]

  Hours after announcing allied air attacks on Iraq, President Bush ordered the first emergency sale in the reserve's history. The Energy Department released its sales notice on 17 January 1991 and eventually sold 17.3 million barrels to 13 companies, half of what it offered: bids for sour crude came in too low to accept.

  0.65

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  DOE Awards the Biggest Exchange in the SPR's Fifty Years

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 05/11/2026CONFIRMED92% CONFIDENCE135 days agoDOE's award announcement is dated 11 May 2026; the 92.5-million-barrel solicitation it answers was issued on 30 April 2026.^[1]

  After soliciting up to 92.5 million barrels from all four storage sites - the largest single exchange in the reserve's history - DOE awarded contracts for 53.3 million on 11 May 2026, at a return premium of about 28 per cent. That is 15.1 million extra barrels owed back to the stockpile.

  0.65

  00
• Economy09/21/2026@EconDesk

  The Longest Government Shutdown in US History Begins

  United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., United StatesUnited States Congress

  

  10/01/2025 - 11/12/2025CONFIRMED89% CONFIDENCE357 days agoThe shutdown began just after midnight on 1 October 2025 and ended on 12 November 2025 when the President signed the stopgap, a span of 43 days.^[1]

  Federal funding lapsed just after midnight on 1 October 2025 and stayed lapsed for 43 days, the longest shutdown ever, over a fight about expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.

  0.65

  00
• Law09/15/2026@BuildDesk

  Biden Signs the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

  The White House, Washington, DC

  

  11/15/2021 - 09/30/2026CONFIRMED90% CONFIDENCE4.9 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "Biden signed the bill into law at a signing ceremony on November 15." Its authorisations ran FY2022-FY2026 and expired on 30 September 2026, per CRS R47573.

  President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, directing $1.2 trillion toward roads, bridges, rail, water systems and broadband nationwide.

  $1.20

  0.64

  00
• Infrastructure09/15/2026@BuildDesk

  Hoover Dam Dedicated by President Roosevelt

  Hoover Dam, Nevada-Arizona border, USAUnited States Bureau of Reclamation

  

  Starts 09/30/1935CONFIRMED85% CONFIDENCE91.0 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates dam September 30th."

  President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, then the largest concrete structure ever built.

  0.63

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983

  US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States

  Starts 08/10/2026CONFIRMED88% CONFIDENCE44 days agoThe figure comes from the Energy^[3] Department's weekly stocks data released on Monday 10 August 2026, as reported the same day.

  Weekly Energy Department data published on 10 August 2026 put the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at 298.7 million barrels, down 6.1 million in a week and the lowest reading in the EIA series since January 1983. The stockpile had held about 415 million barrels before the Iran war began.

  0.63

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  DOE Puts 86 Million Barrels Up for Exchange at Once

  US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States

  Starts 03/13/2026CONFIRMED92% CONFIDENCE194 days agoDOE's press release announcing the RFP is dated 13 March 2026 and gives the bid deadline of 5:00 p.m. CT on 17 March 2026.^[1]

  The first tranche of the 172-million-barrel release went out as a request for proposals on 13 March 2026, covering 86 million barrels from Bryan Mound, West Hackberry and Bayou Choctaw. Bids were due the following Tuesday, and the borrowers must hand the oil back with extra barrels on top.

  0.62

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  The First 412,000 Barrels Go Underground at West Hackberry

  US Department of EnergyWest Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hackberry, Cameron Parish, LA 70645, United States

  Starts 07/21/1977CONFIRMED90% CONFIDENCE49.2 years agoDOE's own 40th-anniversary piece gives the day: "On July 21, 1977, the SPR received its first oil delivery."^[1]

  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve took its first delivery on 21 July 1977: about 412,000 barrels of Saudi Arabian light crude, pumped into salt caverns near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Construction had started that April, when the government bought up existing caverns along the Gulf Coast rather than wait to dig its own.

  0.62

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Katrina Empties 11 Million Barrels From the Reserve

  US Department of EnergyBryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve, 1900 Bryan Mound Road, Freeport, Brazoria County, TX 77541, United States

  Starts 09/02/2005CONFIRMED88% CONFIDENCE21.1 years agoDOE dates the President's Finding of a Severe Energy^[2][3] Supply Interruption to 2 September 2005; the White House fact sheet announcing the 30-million-barrel release is dated the next day.

  Hurricane Katrina shut in about half of US domestic oil production and knocked out refineries and import terminals, so on 2 September 2005 President Bush found a severe energy supply interruption and ordered a sale. DOE offered 30 million barrels and sold 11 million; the first oil left Bryan Mound on 26 September.

  0.61

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Hidroituango Dam Crisis Forces Mass Evacuation in Colombia

  EPMItuango, Antioquia, Colombia

  Starts 05/12/2018CONFIRMED81% CONFIDENCE8.4 years agoHappened as dated, per the source^[1]: "On 12 May, a sudden release of water from the dam flooded municipalities of Puerto Valdivia and Taraza downstream."

  A blocked diversion tunnel at Colombia's roughly $4 billion Hidroituango hydroelectric project triggered flooding and landslides that forced thousands of people downstream to evacuate.

  $4B

  0.60

  00
• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Trump Orders 172 Million Barrels Out as Hormuz Chokes

  US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States

  Starts 03/11/2026CONFIRMED88% CONFIDENCE196 days agoDOE's press release carries Secretary Wright's statement and is dated 11 March 2026, the day the IEA agreed the collective release.^[1]

  Thirty-two IEA member nations agreed on 11 March 2026 to release 400 million barrels between them after Iranian attacks slowed tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The American share was 172 million barrels, the largest US release ever ordered, and Secretary Wright said it would take about 120 days to deliver.

  0.60

  00